The 2022 Starting Med Guide
Time truly flies. It's 2022, and we're welcoming another cohort of first-year students to medical schools across Australia. On behalf of your AMSA, we are so happy to have you! Throughout your degree, AMSA is here to support you at every turn. Whether you have a passion for advocacy or policy, global, rural, Indigenous or queer health, medical education, mental health, gender equity, national and international health politics, leadership, events or community, you will find opportunity for growth and discovery within AMSA. We understand that starting medicine can be daunting, and so our team has put together this guide to help you along the way. Enclosed within are tips and tricks, academic and study, career and networking advice, and available crisis and non-urgent support services.
Time truly flies. It's 2022, and we're welcoming another cohort of first-year students to medical schools across Australia.
On behalf of your AMSA, we are so happy to have you! Throughout your degree, AMSA is here to support you at every turn. Whether you have a passion for advocacy or policy, global, rural, Indigenous or queer health, medical education, mental health, gender equity, national and international health politics, leadership, events or community, you will find opportunity for growth and discovery within AMSA.
We understand that starting medicine can be daunting, and so our team has put together this guide to help you along the way. Enclosed within are tips and tricks, academic and study, career and networking advice, and available crisis and non-urgent support services.
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How to Study<br />
Welcome to <strong>Med</strong>ical School<br />
and Congratulations!<br />
Whether you’ve just come from high school or another degree, studying medicine can be a<br />
considerable change due to various factors such as the amount of freedom you have in your<br />
education, and the amount of self-directed learning involved. You’ve studied so hard to get into this<br />
degree. Now that you’re here, it’s time to prepare to study medicine! Whilst there are many methods<br />
that others will claim to be the right way to study medicine, the best way to study is the way that<br />
suits you the most and gives you an optimal outcome. Here’s an overview of three well-supported<br />
learning methods that are highly recommended and have worked fantastically for medical students<br />
in the past - Active learning, Repetition and Testing your Knowledge.<br />
Active Learning<br />
Take the time to understand what you are studying by actively engaging with the content, as<br />
this will significantly increase your long term retention of information. <strong>The</strong> following are some<br />
tips and strategies that you can employ in order to learn actively and enhance your<br />
performance in medical school:<br />
Relate Information to the Bigger Picture<br />
You can do this by contemplating the<br />
significance of learning certain concepts in<br />
your course. Why does it matter? What are<br />
the broader clinical applications? Aim to<br />
apply your medical knowledge to case<br />
studies and patients in order to create<br />
mental links, which will additionally help<br />
you to retain information.<br />
Attend PASS Sessions<br />
Most universities offer PASS (Peer<br />
Assisted Study Sessions) or a similar<br />
tutorial program. Attending these sessions<br />
gives you the opportunity to ask questions,<br />
identify problem areas and understand<br />
information in a new way<br />
Ask Questions<br />
Your lecturers and tutors are there to teach<br />
you and help you understand content.<br />
Approach them after lectures, or email them if<br />
you have questions, and more often than not<br />
they will be happy to enrich your<br />
understanding!<br />
Form a Study Group<br />
Form a group of like-minded learners (this may<br />
take some trial and error) and study together,<br />
while remaining motivated. Create a group<br />
chat so that you can ask each other questions<br />
and help consolidate each other’s<br />
understanding of concepts. Consider the Latin<br />
proverb ‘Docendo Discimus - by teaching, we<br />
learn’ and aim to explain concepts to others,<br />
without notes. This has proven to be an<br />
extremely effective study technique that will<br />
markedly improve your results<br />
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